Monthly Archives: October 2013

It’s scary to think that this time last year I was finishing my hsc and now I am finishing my first year of Uni. I have thoroughly enjoyed my university experience so far as I have met a lot of new people and learnt a lot of new things. However, now another session of blogging has come to an end. I have found the topics within this subject interesting as most of the topics we looked into I did not have any knowledge of prior to entering this subject.

Throughout this semester my favorite topics would have been hip hop as well as media capitals (my group presentation). Being a dancer and having an obsession with Kanye West I was fond of Hip Hop as because I have grown up around this topic I had a general understanding however I found it interesting looking deeper into the foundations and evolution of hip hop from then to now. Although our group found it hard to find a lot of information on media capitals as it is a tricky topic I found some of our findings fascinating especially in terms of reality television and just how many countries have their own version of Next Top Model. Not only were some of our findings unique I also was able to gain a better understanding of media capitals in terms of they exactly are, who Australia is dependent on and ultimately the future for media capitals and just who will obtain the power.

Overall BCM111 has furthered my understanding of International media and I have certainty gained a lot from taking this subject. I can’t say 8:30 tutorials will be greatly missed but it has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing what next semester holds.

Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information” according to the United States Society of Professional Journalists. The term false balance is the superficial balance that provides the audience with both sides of the story present. This can also be informational bias as journalists present a particular issue as being more balanced between opposing viewpoints. However just because it is stated that a report is balanced and provides equal information does not mean that both sides of the story are in fact equal or furthermore accurate.

Journalists have profound ethical responsibilities when covering stories and issues both expansive and critical, much like climate change. These journalists are not only reporting these concerns during a time where their own line of work is changing, but also during a time of profound global economic and financial uncertainty (Ward 2009). This type of uncertainty is compounded by the ongoing threats of divisive wars and terrorist activities, which in hand confounds journalist’s approach to these expansive and critical issues (Ward 2009).

What has been considered as a major challenge to the free flow of information, the commercialisation of media has resulted in news becoming a commercial product. As the concentration of media ownership is increasing, the level of freedom and independence of news and differing views is reducing. In some nations, powerful corporations are becoming major influences on mainstream media. This in particular has caused a reduction in diversity and depth in content that is being presented to mass audiences.